Edmonton Travel Guide
Edmonton, the capital of Alberta has been host to tourists from different corners of the world due to various unique factors. It has been host to numerous cultural and social events which have boasted the tourism and the hotel industry in a huge way. Sighting this, the world's largest shopping center - The West Edmonton Mall has been opened here containing a total of 800 shops, in built amusement cum Water Park and more than 100 eating joints. There is little of everything in the city starting from shopping areas to sports entertainment and from historical locations to modern marvels.
Starting with places of historical importance, people can visit the Fort Edmonton Park which contains the history of the city of the past 4 eras. The Royal Alberta Museum is another place to visit containing some of the most important historical artifacts of the country.
The city has a rich cultural heritage with more than 1000 festivals being celebrated throughout the year. Summer festivals are dedicated to music while the winters are for ice sports. The Edmonton Folk Music Festival attracts close to 100,000 visitors every year for the 4 day extravaganza. On the Edmonton's International Fringe Festival, one can expect to witness a total of approximately 1000 plus performances by different groups.
A more modern outlook of the city can be found at the shops, nightclubs, cafes and theaters where people come to enjoy after a hard day's work. They remain open for a major part of the day and the people here are friendly thus making Edmonton one of the friendliest neighborhoods in the whole of west. Tourists can move around the city without any worries.
According to estimates, there are more than 3,500 restaurants in Edmonton all offering local as well as international delicacies to their customers. Because of the numbers, it is very hard to find a cuisine famous in the world and not available in Edmonton. Alberta's beer has always been the star attraction for the people and it can be found on every restaurant's menu. In to malay, chinese, indian or nyonya dishes? - name it and it will be available on the menu. They absolutely have it all at your disposal.
Coming to sports, the teams of Edmonton are pretty strong contenders in all major sporting events including the likes of football, hockey and basketball. A number of athletes from this city have gained international recognition thus giving this city another name - "The city of Champions". Edmonton Eskimos (Football) and Edmonton Oilers (Hockey) are two of the most famous teams and can be seen practicing at the stadiums that have been created to host world class international events like the FIFA World Cup.
With more than 800,000 people living in the city, there isn't much that is left to the imagination. The city promises nonstop fun for everyone irrespective of the class to which they belong. With time, better amusement centers are expected to come up in the city which is soon going to be counted in the league of major centers like New York and Los Angeles.